What is a Big Mac?

There’s a global trend that’s changing the landscape of fast food, and it’s chicken. Sure chicken’s been a part of fast food for ages, probably for as long as fast food has existed. However, when most people think of fast food, they think of hamburgers or pizza. This is changing though, and more and more fast food restaurants are becoming chicken experts. There are many competing theories about why this is happening. Some people suggest that global food prices are making beef too expensive, others suggest that it’s a choice people are making for health, some even suggest that it’s just a trend that people prefer eating.

What that’s lead to is many fast food chains adding more chicken to their menu, and McDonald’s is no exception. They’ve not only added many new chicken options to their menu, they’ve started to offer chicken variations of their classic burgers. One such item is the Chicken Mac. I decided to give one of these a try and it really made me think about how one defines “what is a Big Mac”.

The problem I ran into is that McDonald’s made more than one change to this classic sandwich. The most obvious change is that they went with two deep fried chicken patties instead of the beef. However, the other change they made is that the Big Mac sauce was changed to just regular mayonnaise. The rest of the sandwich was pretty much the same, lettuce, cheese, re-hydrated onion, pickles and the three layer bun. I didn’t actually research any of this before getting the Chicken Mac, and was kind of shocked by the lack of the Big Mac sauce.

It made me wonder, is it still a Big Mac (or any kind of “Mac” sandwich at all)? I suggested to Allison that I don’t think that this could be considered in the same family of sandwiches, and she argued that it could because it still had that unique bun and the same toppings. She also suggested that the rest of the burger still seemed Mac like. I’m not sure if I agree, but this is actually something that comes up a lot in fast food and candy.

When a candy company makes a different variation of a candy bar, can it still be in the same family. A great example is if we compare the Kit Kat bar with the Kit Kat Chunky (or Big as some call it). While a Kit Kat Chunky kind of looks like a finger of a Kit Kat bar, it’s really only one finger. The ratio of chocolate to wafers is different, and the size of the wafers is different as well. When you think about it, most chocolate bars are really just one finger as well. So does that mean a Kit Kat chunky really isn’t a Kit Kat bar? How far can you stray and how many ingredients can you change while still keeping a snack or junk food item in the same family?

Are all fast food sandwiches that have Big Mac sauce on them, a Big Mac? Can you put Big Mac sauce on a Quarter Pounder and call it a Quarter Pounder Mac? Or do you need that unique bun too? In the last 10 or 20 years it’s become really popular to make variations on popular snack and fast food items, but how far is too far? I argue that the Chicken Mac is not a Big Mac anymore.